


And Keep You Brave and Strong

by cassowarykisses



Category: Hetalia: Axis Powers
Genre: Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-03-30
Updated: 2014-03-30
Packaged: 2018-01-17 12:46:14
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,002
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1388161
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/cassowarykisses/pseuds/cassowarykisses
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>America charts his encounters with Texas through the years.</p>
            </blockquote>





	And Keep You Brave and Strong

**Author's Note:**

> The title comes from ["Texas, Our Texas,"](http://www.lsjunction.com/song.htm) the state song of Texas.

The girl stares at him, suspicious of this man who has come uninvited into her home. Her skin and hair are dark - much darker than his own, but the lighten with every passing wagon train full of families from his land. “Why are you coming here?” she asks, her English halting and accented, but fluent, and with an undercurrent of strength America suspects would carry over into any tongue she chose to speak.

He smiles, and holds out a hand to her. She stares at it, looking utterly unamused. “I came here,” he begins, “Because there wasn’t enough room over East. Where I’m from.”

 

“I’m not  _stupid_ , I know you’re from the east! But you’ve got so much more land than I do, so how could your people be getting crowded?”

“Well,” he says, and pauses, searching for the words to describe the sensation that fills him when he sees the horizon, when he sees the edge of the world. “I guess it’s not so much that they couldn’t fit back home, it’s just that … I can’t help but wonder what’s over the horizon, you know? Wherever there’s a city, something’s been  _established_ , I guess. I mean, wherever it’s all set up already, there are rules and laws and expectations, but where there’s nothing? You can make your own rules, and build your own cities, and you can be happier there. And there’re always more people who don’t like the cities, so they go farther and farther out. Out here.” Here he turns to her, and realizes she’s watching him with an interest that had not been there just a moment ago. “If you don’t mind?”

She tosses her hair, and turns her face away from his, and for a moment he feels a sinking sensation in his stomach. But then she speaks: “Makes as much sense as any reason. I hear Grandfather only came out over her ‘cause he heard all about gold cities.”

“Really? You don’t happen to have any of those, do you?” he says, a small smile tugging at the corners of his mouth.

“No, I don’t!” she says, and stamps her foot. “I told everyone that, and they just looked at me strange, and then went off and – and starved to death in some desert or something like that.”

He laughs warmly, and grins down at her. She glares back. “ I was only kidding! I won’t go _searching_ for any gold cities – I’ve looked for things often enough that I know you never find what you’re looking for when you want to find it!” The girl starts in disbelief, and then smirks. God, she’d have a pretty smile, if she’d ever use it.

“Hey!”  cries out a voice, and both of them turn and step away from each other when they see who cried out. Mexico rushes in between them, glaring at America. “You stay away from her!” he says, pushing the bridge of his glasses back up his nose. He reaches out and grabs Texas by her arm, ignoring her protests, which in a strange pidgin mixture of Spanish and English. America raises his hands in a gesture of defeat, and backs away more, giving Mexico enough space to easily drag the protesting Texas back away from him. He watches as Texas eventually wriggles out of his grip, and how Mexico talks to her in a barrage of Spanish, a language he doesn’t speak and wonders if he should learn, and how the two of them set off down the road to a small village America can’t remember the name of.

He sighs, and looks around. Time to head back to the wagons, and the settlers will build their new homes here. “Bye,” he says to the empty air.

***

It is many years later, and they are walking along through a field of dry golden grass. Neither of them have spoken for several minutes, not since America dismounted from the horse now tied to the fence just a few yards away. “So,” he finally says, breaking the silence as he comes to a stop, “What’d you call me here for?” He knows she is still fighting, all along her border, and inside her too (America has not forgotten what that feels like, and he doubts he ever will).

Texas laughs, and reaches into the pocket of her coat, and of all the things America thought she might do, that wasn’t one of them. “Here,” she says, her drawl rising full force when she is too happy to think about correcting it, “Ah want you to have this.”

America looks down at what she holds out to him, in the palm of her calloused hand. A pair of glasses, with one lens broken, and the side twisted into a useless, crooked shape. “Thanks,” he says, confused, “But I, uh, don’t need glasses.” And if I did, he thinks, I certainly wouldn’t need broken ones.

She rolls her eyes. “Ah know,” she says, “These were  _Mexico’s_ glasses.” With that, she slaps the beaten frames into his outstretched hand. “Ah punched them off his face when he started to tell me what to do. He hit back hard, but the look on his face was  _priceless_.” Texas grins, wild and sharp and feral, and he remembers that same smile on his own face during his own revolution.

He laughs, just as she did a moment before. “I could always use a memento from that war.”

“Well, now you have one,” Texas teases him, before her expression turns serious. “America,” she begins, “You know my boss has been askin’ for me to join you.”

He nods, and knows exactly where this is going. It’s been a done deal for years, really. He’s hoped for this since the first of his people started moving into her land, and it looks like human politics is finally stepping in line. “They really want that?”

“Yeah.”

“Well,” America says, turning his face up towards the sky, “Tell them I’d be glad to have you.”


End file.
